The National Day of Prayer Task Force is a private organization headed by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. The group, whose mission is to “publicize and preserve America’s Christian heritage,” organizes National Prayer Day events.

Roger J. Nemeth is a sociology professor at Hope College in Holland, Mich. He has written about finances and congregations, including an essay, “The Religious Basis of Charitable Giving in America: A Social Capital Perspective” for the volume Religion, Social Capital and Democratic Life.

Steven Jacobs is a professor of religious studies and holds the Aaron Aronov Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He can comment on altruism as a scholar of modern Jewish thought and from a post-Holocaust perspective.

This April 22, 2010, Washington Post article discusses how Franklin Graham, son of popular evangelist Billy Graham, was left off the program for a National Day of Prayer event due to his remarks on Islam.

Ahmad S. Dallal is dean of Georgetown University in Qatar. His research interests include early modern Islamic societies, the causes of 9/11 and the relationship between Islam and science.

Eric M. Woodrum is a professor of sociology and anthropology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He has written about the effects of religion and theology on the environmental movement.

Sharon L. Miller is associate director of the Center for the Study of Theological Education at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. She is a sociologist of religion who specializes in evaluation research and data analysis. Miller co-edited a collection of essays on religious giving titled Financing American Religion.

After Crabb’s ruling, the White House said President Barack Obama would continue the tradition of issuing a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer, and he issued one on April 30, 2010.

Stephanie Clintonia Boddie is senior researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. She specializes in the role of religious congregations in providing community services and has published two reports on giving for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center on Social Development.